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Islam

Northwestern University Department of Religion offers unique opportunities for the academic study of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The program is especially strong on Sufism, Islamic Law, and Islamic Intellectual Traditions of West Africa.

Of the two faculty members in the Religion Department, Rüdiger Seesemann’s major fields of specialization are Islamic Mysticism, Islam and Modernity, Islam and Politics, Islamism, and Islamic Education, with a focus on the contemporary period and a regional emphasis on Africa South of the Sahara. M. Sani Umar works on Islamic Law, Contemporary Islamic Thought and Liberalism, Islam and Modernity, Islamic discourses on colonialism and the Islamic intellectual traditions of Africa.

Each student in Islam in Africa is expected to take courses in the Religion Department, and in an affiliated department, usually History (with Jonathan Glassman and Karl Petry) or Anthropology (with Robert Launay).
Faculty with expertise on Africa in the departments English, French and Italian, and Political Science provide additional opportunities for multidisciplinary research and study. Other institutional assets that make Northwestern the premier university for study of Islam in Africa include the distinguished Program of African Studies (one of the oldest in the United States); the outstanding Herskovits Africana Library and its rich collections of Arabic manuscripts from West Africa; and the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA).

Most universities have only one position for Islam, and the person hired is likely to be asked to teach variety of courses on Islam beyond his or her research expertise. To meet such expectation, broad knowledge of Islam is crucial. Therefore, we expect our students to take one course on Classics of Islamic Thought, one course on Islamic Scriptures, and one course on Islam in Africa. Additional courses can be taken in each student’s area of research interest in small seminars or through directed reading and independent studies.

Normally, students should have good reading knowledge of Arabic and the relevant African languages for their area of study. This can be done during course work, or after course work but before going for field research.